Archive for the ‘Infrastructure’ Category

The grand opening for the Northside Bike/Ped Trail is scheduled for 10:00 AM Friday, November 2. Mayors Pete Buttigieg of South Bend and Dave Wood of Mishawaka will join in the event, which will be held at the former intersection of Logan St. and Northside Blvd. Limited parking is available on Northside Blvd with more on 36th Street between Northside and Pleasant St. The best parking for folks wanting to ride the ceremonial opener should ‘park and ride’ from the Veterans Park lot on Northside Blvd. just below and east of the Twyckenham bridge. (Remember: Twyckenham goes OVER the Blvd. and does not intersect.)

Northside Blvd. has a completely new look, as it is no longer a through street, and is useful only to local residents and those enjoying the bike/ped trail. The historic depression-era stone walls have been neatly restored, and attractive lighting complements the entire trail.

A short ride is scheduled to help celebrate the opening, and the public is invited to bring their bikes and join in.

A much used bike corridor in St. Joseph County is getting either a bike lane or bike paths. Juniper Road is one of the few streets that allow cyclists to cross the I-80/90 Toll Road and it is also a popular gateway to the Notre Dame campus from the north.

On Tuesday, the county Board of Commissioners gave the project the go-ahead, and Andy Kostielney, a commissioner said he is hopeful the work can begin by early next year.

Michiana has joined a national effort to collect biking and walking usage data. Volunteers are needed to maintain this effort, and make South Bend and Michiana a leader in healthful recreation and non-motorized transportation. The next count dates are Sept 11, 12 & 13. Volunteers for one or all three dates are welcome.

One of the greatest challenges facing the bicycle and pedestrian field is the lack of documentation on usage and demand. Without accurate and consistent demand

The latest (May, 2012) BMC bicycle maps are now available. If you didn’t get one during Bike to Work Week, they should soon be showing up in your local bike shop if they aren’t already there. If you’d like, you may also download a high-quality PDF of the map HERE, but note that it is a 4.2-MB download.

The City of South Bend, along with bicycle advocates has begun the process of collecting non-motorized traffic counts. On June 14, from 5:00 until 7:00 pm, eight volunteers joined the South Bend Bicycle Coordinator staff in conducting the counts at eight sites in and around South Bend.

All of the count sites were in South Bend, except for Juniper Road, which is in St. Joseph County, just north of the Notre Dame campus. All of the South Bend sites are on a Bike/Ped path or on a street with striped bike lanes; Juniper road was selected, largely because it is slated to be upgraded for safer bicycle traffic in the near future, and this count will make a good baseline. These same sites will be counted periodically, and additional sites will be added in the future. Volunteer counters were recruited from the Bike Michiana Coalition, Bike the Bend, and Indiana University at South Bend. In order to expand the program, additional volunteers will be needed.

With this count, Michiana is partnering and sharing data with the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Project whose effort provides a consistent model of ongoing data collection for use by planners, governments, and bicycle and pedestrian professionals.

The St. Joseph County Parks Foundation and the Friends of the Pumpkinvine have each received $1,000 from the BMC to support development of their trails.

The Parks Foundation will use the funds for development of the IN-MI Trail, to help fill in the gap between Niles, Mich. and Roseland, Ind. The Park’s segment of this trail, the LaSalle Trail, has not yet started construction, and the BMC donation will be added to their trust fund earmarked for the trail.

The Pumpkinvine Nature Trail meanders between Goshen, Middlebury and Shipshewana in Elkhart County: they will use the funds to help close gaps in the trail. Currently under construction is a 1.2 mile section near Middlebury.

Andy Williamson, the Great Lakes region representative for IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) will be attending the NIMBA Bendix Woods trail workday on April 14, from 10 to 2. Andy will be sharing information regarding IMBA and what’s happening with Mountain Biking at a national, regional and state level over lunch with the trail builders. Come out and help NIMBA finish the trail at Bendix Woods and hear what’s happening in the Mountain Biking world. For more information contact NIMBA at NIMBA.BIKE @GMAIL.COM

The Northern Indiana Mountain Bike Association (NIMBA) will be having a Trail Build day at Bendix Woods, this Sunday, 3/25, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and they are looking for helping hands.

If you’d like to participate, enter the park through the gate off of SR2. The gate is just west of the Bosch facility. They will meet at the Otahnagon Shelter area.

They have all the tools needed to build the trail, and volunteers just need to bring a pair of gloves to help out. They will have water and lunch for everyone. Spring time is the best time to build trail so come out an give them a hand!

If you want to get a better understanding of what they are doing when building the trail, check out the following video:

For any additional information, please contact NIMBA president, John Marquardt at the following email address: NIMB.BIKE@GMAIL.COM

New Wayfinding signs have been recently installed, joining the Bicycle Friendly Community signs which were erected earlier this spring.

A South Bend Bicycle Wayfinding Committee looked at several sign formats used in United States and European cities before selecting the final design. Chris Dressel, South Bend Bicycle Coordinator stated that the installed signs represent just the first phase of the project, and cover two bike routes: 1) University of Notre Dame to Downtown South Bend (via Colfax Avenue and Notre Dame Avenue), and 2) Riverside Trail from Darden Road to Angela Blvd. A total of twenty-four signs have been installed in Phase I, which consists of 16 decision signs and 8 confirmation signs. Mike Divita, a South Bend Planner who worked closely with the Wayfinding Committee compares the sign system to other U.S. cities and believes it is second to none.

Dressel thanked the Bike Michiana Coalition, Bike the Bend, and Grass Roots Media for providing support for the first phase and making planning for the next phase possible. The Bike Michiana Coalition and Bike the Bend, each contributed $2,500 to subsidize the signs.

Judy Lee, BMC President’s reaction was immediate. She said it is “like a dream. The hard work of so many is becoming reality.” Betsy Kwiatkowski exclaimed in an e-mail “I’ve already seen one sign and it looked awesome!” Glenda Lamont, of Bike the Bend agrees that it is “very good news indeed”, and already is looking forward to Phase II.

As a bicyclist, you know how difficult it can be to transport your bicycle. The League of Michigan Bicyclists is currently circulating a petition to allow bicycles on Amtrak trains without taking them apart.

The petition says “Seamless multi-modal connections are essential to a sustainable 21st century transportation system. It should be easy for travelers to make connections from one mode of transportation to another”.

Michiana cyclists are encouraged to learn more about the issue and sign the petition. You don’t need to be a Michigan resident to sign. Click here to take the next step.